17 ms·

Ask HN: My country may be in the midst of a coup – how should I get prepared?

274 points by ahmedfromtunis 5y ago

I'm sure some of your heard about what's happening in my country, Tunisia. (tldr: the president made some 'unconstitutional' moves to thwart rampant corruption. Five days later, everything seems fine ... for now). Even though it seems the president is keeping his promise on freedom of speech, I don't think it would be extravagant to get prepared for the worse. So, what should I do to keep myself safe online? Edit: I'm not worried about my physical safety, I'm just asking about protecting my privacy online if the government decides to go full on Big Brother. P.S.: I tried to submit this question with a throwaway account, for obvious reasons, was told to "please slow down".

mardiyah 5y ago
buy & store basic needs as much as possible
- ahmedfromtunis 5y ago
  That I already do on a regular basis;
PaulHoule 5y ago
Get out of the capital city.
- ahmedfromtunis 5y ago
  I'm not really worried about my physical safety; there's no way this can devolve into a full on war; I just need to protect my online privacy. Also, we're in the middle of pandemic lock-down and leaving is not an option.
  - novok 5y ago
    Prepare to leave, even if it is not an 'option' right now. Make relationships with people smugglers today, not when you need it. Research which countries would accept you as a political refugee, which in your case is pretty clear cut as a journalist and what would be the best process. Don't only choose one country as part of your research, have a list in case one or more fall through. You will probably have to live in an easy to move to neutral country such as indonesia or the phillipines first while you apply. You might have to leave fast, so create a 'leave the country' go away backpack (aka go bag) and bring it with you everywhere, in case you can't actually go home. Install online cameras to see the state of your house before getting close to it in case you are raided or setup for an ambush. Turn off the cell phone when your close to where you live by a few km, use wifi where all your internet connection is piped through a VPN. Be prepared to abandon everything in your house if it comes to that, maybe distribute your important sentimental objects elsewhere with trusted friends or family or other secret storage spots. When you begin to stash such things, turn off all electronic devices with radios (wifi, bluetooth, cellphone, etc) or just do not bring them going there and coming back. Use cash for in person transactions from now on, maybe change your habits up. You may not be worried about general physical safety, but you might be targeted specifically. Michael Bazzel's book is pretty good if you want to further go down the rabbit hole: https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html . It is US focused, but many of the principles still apply.
  - csomar 5y ago
    > I'm not really worried about my physical safety You should. > there's no way this can devolve into a full on war Ghannouchi might be bluffing but no one really knows for sure. This can devolve into a full on war, although it'll unlikely touch the coastal cities. > I just need to protect my online privacy You don't really need to do much unless you are looking to do full-on work on activist journalism. Dictatorships only target the most famous or those who make a lot of noise. It's very hard to follow everyone, and Tunisia kind of lacks in the tech department. > Also, we're in the middle of pandemic lock-down and leaving is not an option. Most Embassies have re-opened. It is harder, granted; and if you are young it is hard to get the vaccine.
  - floxy 5y ago
    >there's no way this can devolve into a full on war I know nothing of your particular situation, but I bet there is usually a long chain of impossibilities that occur when things really start to go bad: - There's no way this virus will keep economies crippled and shortages going for more than a year. - There's no way for a coup to happen - There's no way for this to devolve into war - There's no way they'd start arresting journalists - There's no way they'd suspend elections - There's no way the police will start shooting protestors - There's no way the army will start rounding up people - There's no way the protests will start occurring in my town - There's no way that the violence will come to my town - There's no way that my neighbors will turn me in - There's no way that the outside world will turn a blind eye to the atrocities No doubt it is still a really low probability of really bad things happening. But 1% is not never. Thinking that something could happen is one step to ensuring that it doesn't actually happen. Stay safe.
- csomar 5y ago
  Not sure if you are familiar with Tunisia but this is particularly very sound advice. I got out of the capital a few months ago because where my family lives is kind of tribal. I used to live alone in some neighborhood and although it is nice, nobody really knows anybody. Of course, it could be the case that the OP already lives near his family or maybe doesn't have one. In which case, it might help but only a little.
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    It would be true almost anywhere. If things went crazy in the US, Washington DC would be dangerous, even from the viewpoint of getting caught in the crossfire. In France, Paris would be dangerous but some little town will probably miss the action. This is much more the case in a developing country where geographical inequality is even worse and you are more likely to have family in the country.
arkitaip 5y ago
You need to make plans to leave the country in an orderly way so you can move somewhere safe with job opportunities.
h2odragon 5y ago
Start you some alternate, backup accounts on sites that you might want to keep using. have email accounts at several providers and scatter the other accounts among them. Premade throwaways, if you will, to prevent what just happened to you repeating. Deleting things off the net isn't reliable; but if you've said things you might worry about later you can go delete them now and at least you'll be able to point to that as a disavowal if need be. If you're really worried about something you've said, maybe update it with a retraction an/or publish such separately. And of course VPNs etc etc... act like you're selling horse porn and keep some in stock, just for cover.
- ahmedfromtunis 5y ago
  The thing is that I'm a journalist, and of course I said a lot of bad things about the president (even called for him to resign) as well as the government he sacked, and much more. So, on that front, I think my options are limited. But, yeah, setting up a vpn and alternate accounts is a great idea to avoid spying and all that kind of stuff. Thanks!
  - csomar 5y ago
    > I said a lot of bad things about the president (even called for him to resign) as well as the government he sacked, and much more. I wouldn't worry about it much at this particular point. Said is a textbook dictator but they only have enough manpower and everyone is still everywhere when it comes to publishing stuff. Only those who are very visible will be targeted at first. > So, on that front, I think my options are limited. I'll start contacting embassies on Monday. Many people do this as a scam (for homosexuality) and for many of them it works. Start building a profile with these embassies. You'll unlikely be subjected to torture (or killing) but maybe arrested for a few days or messed with lightly. Keep that as evidence for your asylum application.
  - iamcurious 5y ago
    Ahmed, all this thread is terrible advice. My advice, if any, is to fly. If for whatever reason you can not fly, the only way left is to see their humanity and show yours. In that order.
anonAndOn 5y ago
Burner phone(s)? (cheap, throwaway, prepaid in cash) Also, this guide is a good starting point. [0] [0]https://cltc.berkeley.edu/2021/01/20/cltc-report-an-evaluation-of-online-security-guides-for-journalists/ https://cltc.berkeley.edu/2021/01/20/cltc-report-an-evaluati...
lilsoso 5y ago
Should you need to flee the country, you'll need access to money. You could deposit money into cryptocurrency 'stable coins', which are generally backed 1:1 by other currencies. The stablecoin called USDC would work for this purpose: backed 1:1 by the US Dollar. That way you will have access to money from any country. Berkeley has a report "An Evaluation of Online Security Guides for Journalists" which may prove helpful here: https://cltc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Online_Security_Guides_for_Journalists.pdf https://cltc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Online_... . I also remember University of Toronto had software tools to help journalists and political dissidents communicate securely online, however I don't have links at the moment. You probably want to purchase multiple VPN services, from smaller providers, as the bigger ones will likely be blocked entirely. You also want to limit ad tracking as much as possible. Your phone will likely leak your location and provide excellent means for tracking you. I am not an expert on this subject. Use an iphone, update to the latest ios, limit ad tracking in the settings, and disable background app communication (cut off internet access for most apps entirely). Use a VPN on your phone. See this article for an idea of how pervasive the tracking might be: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...
- lilsoso 5y ago
  How to stay anonymous online is an interesting problem. Guides may recommend privacy plugins for chrome: uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, PixelBlock, etc... However, these plugins may also make your browser easier to fingerprint. Technology for browser fingerprinting and linking your identity across devices is probably quite sophisticated. Perversely, there's a guy ordering lunch right now, in San Francisco or New York City, who wrote the code to track you. The bill for the meal over Uber Eats tallied to $45, delivered to his multi million dollar condo. He read your headline and decided to stay silent. Good luck!
- novok 5y ago
  I would set up vpn service on a datacenter provider like aws or digital ocean. That way blocking you means blocking the internet effectively. If they block one protocol you can also switch it up more quickly. Your threat model is tunsia, not the us govt or anti piracy detection, which is where datacenter vpn falls short.
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floxy 5y ago
Download and start using the Tor browser as soon as possible, for as much as you can. https://www.torproject.org/download/ https://www.torproject.org/download/ Disable javascript whenever possible. Check your browser fingerprint. https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ Practice grey man tactics in your online and real life situations. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=grey+man https://duckduckgo.com/?q=grey+man Download the U.S. Army survival guide, and others. Download other books, audiobooks, movies, games, and other entertainments to your physical devices in case the internet goes down, or certain services start to get blocked in your country/city/neighborhood. Get at least a small battery backup solution to keep your devices running if the power goes out. Augment with solar charging if possible.
- minimalist 5y ago
  Seeing as how can very obvious to your ISP when you use Tor, I would take this advice with caution. I agree that you should download Tor Browser and get used to using it, but also think hard about whether it would be a problem if you were found to be using it, say from home. The Whonix wiki has lots of good tips for digital hygiene in unfriendly environments. Same with the anon guide. --this comment posted via the wonderful community project named Tor
  - andrewmcwatters 5y ago
    There is a transfer strategy designed to look like typical Internet/WWW activity, but I don’t know how true that is.
    - gruez 5y ago
      I believe that's an option if you connect to tour using a bridge, but that's not the default.
  - pabs3 5y ago
    Tor has alternative transports (bridges) that are meant to disguise the use of Tor on the local network, they should help with the obviousness issue.
mikebos 5y ago
Get a protonvpn account and protonmail address. Make a linux desktop VM without credentials and keep that safe. When you wan to search for something make a copy, and nuke it afterwards. Obviously a live cd would work too. If you need to secure files use the proton drive beta for example. The proton suite of tools is actually quite good and better then DIY or several cheap as dirt providers.
- systemvoltage 5y ago
  There is no need to spend money on this. You can get an iCloud email for free and iCloud storage for very little. I doubt if Tunisian government can do anything to cough up credentials from Apple.
908B64B197 5y ago
Have you considered, as an able bodied young man, to do your part for the future of your country?
- tacLog 5y ago
  What are you implying is this persons part for the future of their country?
- vmception 5y ago
  such as take the next overcrowded raft to Lampadusa, Italy, because he's more likely to be able to swim to shore when it capsizes?
batuhanicoz 5y ago
I’m from Turkey and I’ve been wandering for a while now what can I do to still have internet access if the government decides to shut everything down. I’ll use thread to ask: what would be the cheapest way to have an emergency internet access? I guess Starlink kinda solves this problem but paying 100USD/m is a lot for a backup connection.
- Aachen 5y ago
  Pool the money with friends, family, neighbors that also want access? There also used to be dial-up available like from XS4ALL (you'd dial a Dutch number with your modem), but very practical I can't imagine it is. No real solutions, just thoughts. Hope it helps a little anyhow.
  - jeroenhd 5y ago
    Sadly, xs4all is dropping its dialup support on October 1, it's parent company is slowly dressing the brand down to the bare minimum. Use it now if you need or want to, but don't rely on it exclusively.
- acuozzo 5y ago
  > What would be the cheapest way to have an emergency internet access? How close do you live to the border?
- curryst 5y ago
  How fast does it need to be? The cheapest option I can think of offhand is doing Internet via a HAM radio [1]. It's not fast, at all (I think I saw 500 kb/s in the article), but they say it's only $80 USD for the hardware, with a 300km range. You just need someone friendly, outside Turkey, within 300km who will let you borrow a bit of their WAN link, or who will let you pay them. [1] https://spectrum.ieee.org/build-a-longdistance-data-network-using-ham-radio https://spectrum.ieee.org/build-a-longdistance-data-network-...
  - sillysaurusx 5y ago
    This is awesome. 300km is beyond the curvature of the earth by a significant margin -- I wonder how it works... Thanks for posting it. EDIT: The hackaday page (https://hackaday.io/project/164092-npr-new-packet-radio https://hackaday.io/project/164092-npr-new-packet-radio) is talking about 10{,0}Mbit as of 2020: > Important firmware update about Ethenet mode configuration 10Mb/s or 100Mb/s, half or full duplex; it can solve a recurrent problem of packet loss and low datarate. Refer to the new version of the "advanced user guide". Many thanks to Kevin M0AHN who discovered the origin of the problem. I wonder if it's possible to get that kind of bandwidth... EDIT2: Apparently you can get up to 500kbps outside of the US (https://elekitsorparts.com/product/npr-70-modem-by-f4hdk-new-packet-radio-over-70cm-band-amateur-radio-packet-radio https://elekitsorparts.com/product/npr-70-modem-by-f4hdk-new...) but within the US, due to regulations, you can only get 65kbps: > Note for USA : Due to CFR 47 Part 97.3 FCC regulations, for the 70cm amateur radio band (restriction to 100kHz and 56kBaud), only the setting “modulation 20” of NPR-70 seems to be legal in USA. Please always check your local amateur-radio regulation before buying and using NPR70. Modulation 20: Symbol Rate 50kS/s, bandwidth 100kHz, raw datarate 100kb/s raw, usable datarate 65kb/s. Still, you can do a lot with 65kb/s. Hmm. Of course, in the US, you probably have cell service. Neat hack though.
brudgers 5y ago
Against the resources of a nation state, you are no match. Don't fool yourself.
- Aachen 5y ago
  If they target you specifically, sure. One can play the odds of being in the 99% and staying under the radar.
  - brudgers 5y ago
    Consider Google targets everyone everywhere at all times. Because it is easier. The Stasi did the same thing analog fifty years ago. For the same reason. There is no evidence in favor of presuming anything online is anonymous or private. Eve owns the wire. The US DoD created TOR. Patriotism is stronger motivation than individual interest in privacy.
- loteck 5y ago
  Not downvoting you, since this is a common sentiment. But how is this comment helpful? OP has asked for help defending themselves and you've offered "Surrender".
  - dogma1138 5y ago
    It’s quite helpful, if their only concern is to survive then the only real recommendation is to bunker down and keep your head down. Tor is great if you are in the US or Germany but in many places simply having it installed can land you in jail, having guides published by the US government and other organizations is also nice in theory but in practice this would again land you in hot water due to possession of subversive materials or w/e excuse the government or the group(s) in power would use. If their goals are different than just survival than they need to know that they assume a high risk, not only in the times prior and during a revolution but quite often after it since the multitude of groups that tend to fight in a revolution end up fighting amongst themselves for control once the main regime is overcome. It’s easy for people that lived all their life in a country that has a rule of law and that despite what Twitter would tell you actually respects human rights and civil liberties to give advice, unfortunately that advice can often get you arrested or even killed in the real world.
slim 5y ago
Hey Ahmed I live in Tunisia too. You seem to be young enough to not remember how it was to live under the dictatorship 10 years ago. I'm a political activist from the Pirate Party, and I've been arrested twice under the dictatorship and I'm not as worried as you are. Send me an email if you want to chat. I'm slim@pirate.tn
- wahern 5y ago
  [Some time later] I'm glad you contacted me Ahmed. Lesson #1: Don't trust random people on the internet. The secret police are everywhere. Now come with me down to the police station so we can get you booked and interrogated.
  - scotuswroteus 5y ago
    This is not funny or clever. It's ghoulish.
    - ev1 5y ago
      This is also a valid warning to not trust immediately. This kind of reaching out is exactly what many other groups do.
    - bwb 5y ago
      It is also a very good point in this situation. Just look at how many informers there were under the Stasi…
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - bostonsre 5y ago
      It's satirical to hammer home the point to tread carefully with advise from random people on the internet.
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      It's funny, clever, and ghoulish.
jbverschoor 5y ago
Get some hats and prepare to celebrate
jbverschoor 5y ago
There’s no privacy online
Aachen 5y ago
Might offline maps be helpful? For getting around when Internet access is pulled, convenience but also if you actually want to see how to get to another town or country without taking the obvious roads. Downloading relevant maps from osmand.net/download.php onto a hard drive and knowing how to load it on your phone might be a way to do that. Or just keep it on your phone if you have the space. What about power, do you think they'd pull power from regions so you don't have mobile phones to communicate anymore? Phones are efficient enough that hand charging should be pretty doable, so you can charge whenever you need to access any info (be it a map, or other offline info that you downloaded).
jrexilius 5y ago
One thing you need to do is establish a set of pre-shared keys or passpharses with someone you trust outside of the country. Take a look at https://www.openkeychain.org/ https://www.openkeychain.org/. You can take a look at a guide I wrote for people travelling into hostile network areas and adapt some of it to your perosnal circumstance: https://www.anomie.tech/craft/secure-tunnel/ https://www.anomie.tech/craft/secure-tunnel/ Get yourself a good high gain directional wifi antenna to support physically distant network connections. Make friends with any HAM radio operators in your country. Maybe buy your close friends some out-of-band communications tools such as https://gotenna.com/ https://gotenna.com/ If you'd like more advice feel free to reach out to me. [EDIT] forgot to add, it is very much worth having a satellite channel for basic communications. The cheapest, most consumer friendly is the Garmin https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/ https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/
- na85 5y ago
  I actually think openkeychain is a bad recommendation. PGP is notoriously hard to use properly, it's not forward-secure, and unlike most PGP users, OP actually needs reliable security. I'd honestly just use Signal or something like it.
  - jrexilius 5y ago
    OpenKeychain usage isn't limited to PGP in email. It's quite easy to use to simply encrypt files or short strings for use in other mediums. Yes, I'd use Signal for what it was designed for: secure chat in circumstances where I trusted both my phone and my counter parties phone. But learning to use an additional tool for different circumstances in his context I don't think is that hard.
underseacables 5y ago
I think it might be helpful to transfer information that you have online that is critical, such as contacts, to hard copy. A lot of folks have mentioned some very good ways of keeping yourself safe online, but in a coup, I think some of the first things to go we’re going to be Internet access and power. Having contact information and other important details that you usually keep online, could be very useful.
zoomablemind 5y ago
Hopefully the situation would stabilize soon. Meanwhile, if you consider yourself more in a danger to become a 'collateral damage', so to speak, in a power struggle that 'others' do, then the most reasonable strategy could be just staying-low and having sufficient resources to live through such time. Especially so if you have something that may make your position vulnerable (family, assets, business, prominence etc). If you don't have an imminent need to flee (hopefully your assessment is sound), then not turning attention to yourself should let you weather this period of instability, just as for the most part of the populace. Know your friends! Don't self-incriminate, know what you keep on your devices and storage. Be like everybody, just live your life, if you can afford not to choose a side. Have a plan B (even C) about money, not just relying on the routine access way. Freedom of speech _is_ important. However, if you don't consider yourself part of the struggle, then just wait it out. Stay healthy!
jakupovic 5y ago
Get outta there
orestk 5y ago
https://www.eff.org/ https://www.eff.org/
supperburg 5y ago
I often wonder what I’ll do when instability comes to the United States. The only solution seems to be having more than one citizenship. I think that people who are stuck in one country will be looked down upon like the way many people look down upon the uneducated. Both groups are in a sense transient. Global citizens will have a much higher standard of safety and stability.
nickthemagicman 5y ago
I would make sure I have all of my documents straight. Those institutions may crumble and you'll be hard pressed to get replacements if you don't already have. Passport, Id's, etc. Would move out of the capitol city if possible. Basically prepare for the equivalent of a natural disaster. Food, water, gasoline, radios. You can google that kind of thing. Get as much cash as possible. I don't know what gun laws are like but you could proabaly get ammo and guns and hide them somewhere. Those are always valuable during crisis. Other people had great ideas for the digital life.
toast0 5y ago
> So, what should I do to keep myself safe online? You may not be able to keep yourself online at all. Turning off the internet is part of the script for dealing with unrest. If you can, try to setup a way to dial-up a foreign ISP with a modem. xs4all used to be a goto provider for this, but other comments say they're shutting down their dial-up service October 1. Might be useful as an available target to test with though. Sometimes it's less expensive for outside countries to call you than for you to call out, but a quick look shows rates to Tunisia to be quite high, so probably figure out where is the least expensive to call, and then see if you can find a dial-up ISP there, and see it you can get a connection. Landline is obviously preferred here, but expense might be too great. POP3 + TLS email with GPG if you can make it happen and a contact outside the country to help would work the best. International calling could get cut off too, of course, but it might be done later. And calling internationally might get you put on a list, so there's that, too. Good luck and stay safe.
- system2 5y ago
  Wouldn't the government say "wth are you doing with that dial up call everyday" and of course find out what the dial up signal is about?
yongjik 5y ago
Disclaimer: I know nothing about Tunisia. If we believe your assessment that you're not worried about your physical safety, there's little you should worry about your "online" safety. Realistically, a government can't go Big Brother online while people enjoy their freedom in the real world - how would that work? The one thing I can think of is if you frequently write opinions that the majority of Tunisians disagree with - it doesn't matter whether they're pro- or anti-government, if things get heated, people will search for targets to fix their rage on. People, people can be the worst. So try not to post too many incendiary opinions and keep them far from your real identity. Also (it should be obvious to you by now, but) don't put too much weight on the opinions of people who can't spell your ruling party's name. (Yes, that includes this comment!) If I had a dime every time someone said "Get out of South Korea ASAP because there's going to be a war!" ...
icey 5y ago
Download https://tails.boum.org/ https://tails.boum.org/ and put it on a thumb drive. Keep the drive somewhere safe. If you use any cryptocurrencies, put them in a cold wallet and encrypt + hide your keyphrase (not on the usb drive, somewhere that's safe and away from where you are). After that... keep your head down and don't make yourself a target! One additional note, even though you said you're not worried about your physical safety -- set up meeting points with your loved ones away from your home in case something should happen and you can't get back there. If someone runs into trouble and can't communicate, it can be helpful to know where to meet up (same suggestion I'd give to someone moving somewhere with lots of natural disasters, fwiw)
aazaa 5y ago
> Edit: I'm not worried about my physical safety, I'm just asking about protecting my privacy online if the government decides to go full on Big Brother. What makes you think it hasn't already?
- lamelydiminish 5y ago
  So insightful thank you!
- lazyasciiart 5y ago
  This comment isn't terribly useful. If you were aiming for useful and not just cynical, you might add something about why you think they may have done so already, or what he should do differently if they had.
  - aazaa 5y ago
    My point is that regardless of the country, one must assume that it has already gone "Full Big Brother." Any country that has done so is unlikely to make an announcement. Both motive and opportunity already exist.
bjourne 5y ago
Why on earth are you asking HN readers for advice rather than your own countrymen and your friends!?
- csomar 5y ago
  Because most of them are happy with the new dude? It's careful not to counter the crowd now.
- richardfey 5y ago
  Because he's fishing for dissidents
SEJeff 5y ago
Please read through all of https://ssd.eff.org https://ssd.eff.org Their Surveillance Self Defense project was literally created for people like yourself. Stay safe!
- shmoe 5y ago
  Did we just kill the site? We had one guy who needed it!
  - SEJeff 5y ago
    I think so, but I did let them know on Twitter.
guest159835 5y ago
There is no privacy if you are a target (even offline). Delete all data, format your disks, delete every trace.
IfOnlyYouKnew 5y ago
Make low key contact with a journalist you trust from one of the big agencies or papers, i. e. Reuters/AP/NYT/CNN, maybe Spiegel. When the shit hits the fan, they'll be interested in even mundane are-the-shops-still-stocked / what-do-people-think etc. information. After it's over, they'll come and need "stringers", driving them around, translating, arranging interview partners, etc. They have no trouble paying a few hundred $ per day (for the full-time role), and it can lead to something more permanent, abroad, whatever. But, of course, be absolutely sure you're safe. The risk isn't so much zero-day exploits used to get into your phone, but your good friend selling you out, or someone fining some notes you threw away. That's only if any of the parties actually object to the international press, which is relatively rare–domestic news is dangerous, international is PR. For 35 years, every time the US has bombed some country, there were CNN journalist on the ground. And while it has on occasion gone wrong, STDs have been more of a risk than the host countries. Edit: just saw that you are a journalist, so this fits. I'd probably tend to prefer to appear to be as boring as possible. So unless you're already known anyway, driving a taxi may be preferable to running around with a notepad. And while encryption is better than plain text for anything that matters, having no data whatsoever is preferable to having encrypted data. Also, nobody here knows what they're talking about. If in doubt, trust your instincts.
kaminar 5y ago
For a moment, I was expecting a different country...not to worry, we'll get it back.
P-ala-din 5y ago
What's kinda creepy in the Tunisian situation, is the amount of false information being spread on social media, especially Facebook. For example, there are several posts of a screenshot of an aljazeera post, next to a not fully loaded screenshot of Blinken's twitter claiming that aljazeera mistranslated the tweet. The narrative they are trying to push is that aljazeera is biased and therefore the president was justified in ordering its office raided. Had the tweet's page been allowed to fully load, it would have shown that Blinken's tweet was part of a thread where the second tweet matches what Aljazeera said. src: https://old.reddit.com/r/Tunisia/comments/out08w/influencers_spreading_disinformation_in_facebook/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Tunisia/comments/out08w/influencers... Even creepier, I saw that one of my acquaintances had shared one such post. I commented to inform them of the situation and linking the official tweet thread. My comment got removed for "spam" (I only posted exactly one comment, once) and there was no option to appeal the removal. I contacted her through private channels and she claims she didn't even see the comment. (I presume the automated systems saw that tweet's link was being posted a lot??) So not only is the false information kept up but attempts to correct it through discussion are automatically removed.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  > What's kinda creepy in the Tunisian situation, is the amount of false information being spread on social media, especially Facebook. That is very common everywhere, including in the US. Think about QAnon and other conspiracy theories.
boulos 5y ago
Have you / your journalist group considered using Outline [1]? I think you can get by on either the GCP or AWS free tiers for hosting the server (and/or DO at $5/month for unlimited bandwidth). At that point, you’ve got your own, controllable VPN that looks like a major cloud provider. So only if we they decide to really clamp down on “block all GCP/AWS/DO IPs” do you lose access. [1] https://getoutline.org/ https://getoutline.org/
dkdk8283 5y ago
Political asylum in a foreign country until the unrest works itself out.
xxx-or-xxxx 5y ago
> I tried to submit this question with a throwaway account, for obvious reasons, was told to "please slow down". The algo is very aggressive in preventing you from posting too frequently... happens to me all the time (probably because the admins are required to review all comments and posts)
throwaway984393 5y ago
Take the time to create a bunch of throwaway accounts; e-mail, social media, VPN, etc. Don't use them from your personal/work/mobile ISP, save them for VPNs/cafes/etc. Reserve any "questionable" online activity for those accounts on connections not linked to you. Basically, be a "normal" internet user in daily life, but if there is a crackdown, use those alt accounts from a non-standard connection.
system2 5y ago
You can simply prepare yourself by not doing anything online. Including asking. If they are looking for an excuse, don't stick out.
ceilingcorner 5y ago
Try to shift your income to something extremely apolitical. If you are a programmer, go work for a company that makes billing software or manufactures pottery. If you aren’t, go be a chef, accountant, or taxi driver. Anything that doesn’t require you to share your opinions on sociopolitical issues.
squarefoot 5y ago
Disclaimer: I don't know about Tunisia, take this as general advice. If you use encryption at any level, always do that in a way that offers plausible deniability. If "they" suspect you are carrying sensitive information of national security importance, and you can't or don't want to decrypt that information on request, you, or someone you love, will likely be tortured to extract from you that information. I read suggestions about using Ham Radio gear for long distance communications or slow Internet connection. Keep in mind that encryption is forbidden for Ham radio operators; you would immediately draw the attention, and finding a rogue transmitter is extremely easy even in case you transmit for very short intervals. Keep Ham Radio gear at hand as it could become useful, but don't use it thinking of privacy and anonymity. If things really go south, its ideal use is on a vehicle, each time from a different place. Trust no one.
jddn981 5y ago
You are so boring, then we are not only jumping off buildings in China, you are already very happy!
chakhs 5y ago
As someone from a neighboring country who witnessed at least 2 such episodes, I advise to just relax it's not that serious at the moment :)
markus_zhang 5y ago
If the government really wants you it can always do so or purchase services to do so. The safest thing is to stay low. If you were told to "please slow down", you might as well already been monitored somehow by the government.
hereforphone 5y ago
Get a VPS in America or Europe. Install OpenVPN and have it listen on port 80 or 443. Your VPN isn't on a blacklist, of known VPNs, so you're golden. Source: used my own VPN in Islamic dictatorships before.

kelnos 5y ago

How does converting a stablecoin to cash work when you are in an unfamiliar country and don't have a local bank account? I assume cryptocurrency exchanges won't mail you a wad of cash. Maybe they'd mail you a check, though, that you could cash at a local bank? Though many banks will not take checks unless you have an account with them. And the local check-cashing places will take a cut of the proceeds (though that might be acceptable given the situation). Even if that does work, you might be stuck without money for days or more while the check gets to you. Hopefully whatever you managed to bring with you will hold you for that long.

rglullis 5y ago
Hold stablecoins if you don't want the volatility, but when you want to sell some, turn them to BTC and to sell on localbitcoins.
- ev1 5y ago
  Localbitcoins does not let you arrange f2f or online meetings anymore without KYC. You have to pass KYC/AML to sign up.
  - rglullis 5y ago
    Really?! Last time I used it was 2015. What about the Mycelium Wallet?
    - ev1 5y ago
      Non-VOIP non-prepaid phone required, and ID is optional but required for ... well, really, anything more than a single small amount trade. You can't get contact info or contact an advertisement otherwise. I also get "Unfortunately we are not serving customers located in your current location." from a California IP so it's really funny considering it's supposed to be nothing more than a craigslist for BTC ads.
s5300 5y ago
Well, depending on just exactly where you are, if you have access to any way of using credit card to pay for what you need, or a way to turn a credit card balance into cash, you should be fine with one of several card style options from Binance or Crypto.com (is swipe SXP(?) one?) and USDC (the singular most unbreakable 1:1 physically backed USD equivalent in crypto) in your balance. However in do keep in mind, especially when running from bad things (like a dictatorship) - absolutely nothing some cold hard money on hand for fares/bribes of whatever kind. That said, if you were going to go with a exchanges physical card option, you would want to order that... like, now. Also, if you are a singular person without a family... I would be looking to get on a smuggler/refugee boat towards Italy or something. If you're stuck in the country for family or whatever other reasons, I wish you the best, try to have some supplies in backpacks to run into the jungles/slums if shit starts to hit the fan.
lilsoso 5y ago
Let's say you're fleeing Tunisia with a liquid net worth of over $10k. You want some money in cash, certainly. But crossing borders with over $10k is a legal problem. You're also liable to be robbed. It would make sense to convert most of your money to USDC. If you end up anywhere in Europe, and probably many places in the world, you can find cryptocurrency ATM machines where you can withdraw your crypto without identification for nominal fees. As others have pointed out, there are cryptocurrency debit/atm cards via services that require formal registration (ie, they obey KYC laws). There are services you can transfer crypto to through circuitous routes that will dump currency in a bank account you specify -- you'd have to dig to figure that path out as it is not quite legal. And you can always barter with humans directly -- which shouldn't be too difficult. You'll have to do some creative thinking... Stablecoins are ideal for this situation. How else would you move $50k when you're illegally ("undocumented") crossing borders, your government is corrupt, and your banks have shut down?

csomar 5y ago

Slim Amamou is not random. Maybe not quite famous but he is a bit known in Tunisia. And there is no secret police in Tunisia for now. The current plot is quite amateurish but given history (Cuba/Fidel) anything is possible.

wahern 5y ago
I didn't mean to make equivocations to any modern or historically violent regimes, though perhaps I was too flippant in using the term "secret police". I'm well aware that Tunisia (now and even years ago) has a much stronger civil society than most if not all of the Arab world, and in many respects comparable to Europe. It's no coincidence that it was the first (and arguably only) country to transition to democracy during the Arab Spring. My point was just that if you're worried about the consequences of your country slipping back into authoritarianism, obviously you'll want to 1) be more prudent about what you say, and 2) be more rigorous in practicing trust & verify--both regarding the trustworthiness of the person purporting to speak with you, and that they're actually that person, much like if a bank or journalist contacted me. (I always try to verify both, with varying degrees of rigor depending on consequences. And I'll never provide personal information, confidential or otherwise, over an incoming phone call; I always ask for a callback number that I can verify.) Suffice it to say, even in robust democracies you can be interrogated by police for making innocuous statements online. A couple Muslim friends experienced exactly that (repeatedly) in the aftermath of 9/11. That was wrong and harmful, but there was never any threat or perceived threat of physical harm. I didn't mean to denigrate Tunisia by suggesting it would be so quick to descend into a thoroughly repressive and violent dictatorship. The world is much more complex than as portrayed in Hollywood and pulp history. To the extent my comment made a caricature of Tunisia, I apologize.
Aeolun 5y ago
> And there is no secret police in Tunisia for now. If you knew about them they wouldn’t be secret now would they?
- csomar 5y ago
  The secret police is basically a non-legal entity operating illegally to do stuff for the dictator/authoritarian regime.

Teracotage 5y ago

Hey Slim, nice work, "Mass Gmail Phishing in Tunisia" you got them by the balls, but why the same brutal policing everywhere, who trained them thugs? https://advox.globalvoices.org/2010/07/05/mass-gmail-phishing-in-tunisia/https://advox.globalvoices.org/2010/07/05/mass-gmail-phishing-in-tunisia/ https://advox.globalvoices.org/2010/07/05/mass-gmail-phishin...

slim 5y ago
French police trained them (Tunisia was a colony of France during WW2)
- tasogare 5y ago
  Tunisia never was a colony of France, it was a protectorate. Words have meaning, so please stop spreading disinformation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectorate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectorate "Le protectorat colonial se distingue de la colonie dans la mesure où un territoire colonisé est placé sous l’administration directe de la métropole dont il fait partie intégrante, tandis que le territoire sous protectorat conserve théoriquement une relative autonomie." https://bibliotheque-numerique.diplomatie.gouv.fr/MEAE/fr/protectorats https://bibliotheque-numerique.diplomatie.gouv.fr/MEAE/fr/pr...
  - slim 5y ago
    France does not get to invent a new name for colonialism and just get away with it
  - selimthegrim 5y ago
    And Egypt was a "protectorate" and Sudan and Vanuatu were "condominia", let's get real here.
- fluffy_kitten 5y ago
  I'm starting to think that the French police are the worst in the EU at least. And here I was thinking that the Dirty Harry cop in the Dobermann movie was a caricature. Looking at the news of the last few years it seems they really are that deranged. 1. Police answer a domestic case by kicking down the door and shooting the father of the (Asian) family without warning: https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2083188/more-clashes-paris-family-dead-chinese-man-dispute-police-account https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2083188/more-... 2. Riot cops shoot a mother and her children at the outskirts of a Gillets Jaunes demo, one of the kids loses a hand: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/french-police-tactics-scrutiny-gilets-jaunes-injuries-paris https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/french-police-... 3. Police anally rape a young (black) man with an expandable baton during an identity check: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38892302 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38892302 4. Police assault a (black) musician in his studio, allege "smell of cannabis" emanated from within: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55127815 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55127815 And all this is happening in a democratic country at the heart of the EU. If the police in Tunisia are taking lessons from the French police, I'd be worried about the safety of anti-regime Tunisians. Of note, I come from a European country that is ostensibly a democracy and I know well that all the democratic laws in the world are not enough to control a bunch of jumped-up brutes given the authority to beat up their fellow citizens.
  - NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
    Those are terrible things, but in order to understand them in anything approaching a meaningful way you need to have the denominator. How many people are there in France? How many police interactions in a year? Without meaningful denominators to give context it doesn't help to know these things, and I'd argue you should probably avoid knowing them. I think you should avoid knowing them because they are merely attempts to exploit your attention for revenue.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

slim 5y ago

great! it's 1:30 am here and I'm up for a flame war. So I will argue that Tunisia is safer than USA because 1) guns are illegal 2) police is not racist. BTW I traveled to USA, did you travel to Tunisia ?

csomar 5y ago
> guns are illegal Yeah that worked for Brazil and other countries. > police is not racist Sure they are. You are likely to get away without a ticket, an accident or even an arrest if you correlate with the guys. It just happens that the police has a bunch from everywhere. Let's not pretend that Tunisia's police is not as corrupt as it can be.
- slim 5y ago
  It's corrupt, maybe sometimes regionalist (which I'm not sure I agree with) but not racist. Like someone is not treated differently because his skin is dark for example. They are generally not polite with anybody regardless of their "race".
  - hutzlibu 5y ago
    Well yes, a police being unfriendly to anyone is probably better than a police being unfriendly only to certain skin colors or status. I remember travelling in Morocco (and also western sahara), where the police was very friendly with me. But I was a western tourist and the police was ordered by the king to be very friendly to tourists. From the locals I heard different stories.
    - csomar 5y ago
      Same in Tunisia, and honestly I'm quite for it. In the Philippines, the police doesn't care about the tourists. The locals sees that and as a result tourists get mugged a "lot". I had my phone stolen and the police seemed to "enjoy it". A tourist is very unlikely to be mugged in Tunisia (comparing to a Tunisian person) because the police is more reactive when it comes to tourists. As a result you have a country of 11.5 million and 9.5 million tourists in 2019 despite all the crap that the country is going through.
      - hutzlibu 5y ago
        So do you think the police treats tourists worse in Philippines, or all equally bad? (except the local powerclique) In either way, I rather have a police treating all people with respect.
- King-Aaron 5y ago
  > Yeah that worked for Brazil and other countries. Hello from Australia, where guns are very restricted. It works well, thank you. In fact it works well in more counties than it doesn't.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
    You're assuming causation, but a careful look makes the situation much more muddied. In Australia, for instance, violent crime was on the downwards trend (like in the developed world generally) before strict gun laws. It continued on that trend after implementation.
  - wigado 5y ago
    It works well at keeping the populace from armed resistance to an authoritarian government.
lnxg33k1 5y ago
Do your school have shooting drills?
throwaway984393 5y ago
I know nothing about Tunisia, but worth noting that safety in the USA is extremely varied, depending on where you live, what color your skin is. We have some of the most dangerous places in the world in the USA, and some of the safest. It's a big, weird country.
whoaisme 5y ago
If we're going to argue on such a stupid level, Tunisia is a hellscape compared to the US because 1)Tunisia is such a great place that people who are angry and self immolate are political heroes and not tragic loss of mentally unstable life. Let's not pretend that just about anyone in Tunisia would kill to live in the West and people in the West don't know where Tunisia is because Tunisia doesn't matter as long as the islamist nuts are not in control. Of course you travlled to the west and of course it's safe to assume you're talking to someone who sees absolutely no reason to step foot in that place because that is most people in the west even if I might not be. It's hilarious how the way you frame your argument makes it clear which place is better to live but your national pride prevents you from accepting a self evident fact. I don't have to travel to south Africa to know that place is a hell hole too, what an asinine argument.